Houstonians cheer France to World Cup win at Discovery Green watch party

Dylan Dunn, 13, left, John Shelton, 11, center, and John's mother, Regina Shelton, right, cheer the third goal by France as they watch the World Cup at Discovery Green, 1500 McKinney St., Sunday, July 15, 2018, in Houston. less

Dylan Dunn, 13, left, John Shelton, 11, center, and John's mother, Regina Shelton, right, cheer the third goal by France as they watch the World Cup at Discovery Green, 1500 McKinney St., Sunday, July 15, 2018, ... more

Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle

Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle

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Dylan Dunn, 13, left, John Shelton, 11, center, and John's mother, Regina Shelton, right, cheer the third goal by France as they watch the World Cup at Discovery Green, 1500 McKinney St., Sunday, July 15, 2018, in Houston. less

Dylan Dunn, 13, left, John Shelton, 11, center, and John's mother, Regina Shelton, right, cheer the third goal by France as they watch the World Cup at Discovery Green, 1500 McKinney St., Sunday, July 15, 2018, ... more

Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle

Houstonians cheer France to World Cup win at Discovery Green watch party

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A global mix of about 200 soccer fans converged at Discovery Green on Sunday to watch on the big screen as France defeated Croatia in a World Cup finale that featured a series of firsts, including an own goal, a penalty awarded after a video review and an intrusion onto the pitch courtesy of the Russian punk rock group Pussy Riot.

As the clock ticked down at the 4-2 finish, a group of four French families in Houston for jobs with the petrochemical company Schlumberger leapt from portable chairs and blankets, and bounced up and down in a giant hug, despite the Houston heat. Several wore team jerseys and had the tricolour flag painted on their cheeks, and one couple had dressed their 6-month-old daughter in a onesie featuring the Gallic rooster, the French equivalent of the American eagle.

Aldrick Garcia Mayans, a native of Montpellier who has lived in the Houston area for seven years, was up in the air for each of the four goals, and intermittently texting with friends in Brazil and Houston and family members in France and Belgium who were dutifully watching the European telecast on a 15-second delay so they wouldn’t spoil it for him.

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“It’s only the expats that cheer,” said Mayans, 37, of Spring Branch and father of Lucie, the infant in the rooster suit. “Soccer for us is what American football is for you. It’s the same fever.”

Photo: The New York Times

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After the final whistle, strangers from around the world clustered in a corner of the grassy viewing area with Mayans and his friends and family to take photographs with a team flag—supplied by the family of Nabil Medjahed, 50, of The Woodlands, who emigrated from Algeria, and a replica World Cup trophy supplied by Angel Almanza, 20, of Katy, who is originally from Mexico.

Nancy Beatriz Mora Cabrera, a Porter resident from Ecuador, stepped in for a shot with the trophy. Faruk Islam, a Bellaire resident from Bangladesh, also stepped in to get a victory photo with the Gallic talismans, although he admitted he’d been rooting for Croatia moments earlier.

Croatia’s stake

Aldiro Bunga, 24, a native of Angola who has lived in Houston for four years, couldn’t stop smiling after he took a photo with the French team flag.

“I’ve been for France all the way,” he said.

Medjahed, whose family members brought the French flag, had been cheering for the underdog Croatian squad, due in part to the Croatian friends he made living in Astoria section of New York City. A win for a country that small, he said, would “change history.”

“It means everybody will pay attention and look at your differently,” he said.

An employee in the technology department at Conroe ISD, Medjahed grew up playing soccer on the streets of Algiers. He said a win, even in the early rounds of the tournament, is a huge source of pride and identity for a tiny country. Every Algerian who is old enough remembers the country’s swashbuckling first-round victory over what was then West Germany in the 1982 World Cup in Spain.

“My father told me, ‘This is like when we got independence,’” he recalled. “I will never forget.”

As Croatian team began losing ground after halftime, Medjahed, who had come downtown with his wife, three kids and another family, said, “Thank God I’m not Croatian. I get so stressed I cannot watch the game.”

Smaller than Harris County

Other Croatia fans at the viewing party had personal connections to the country. Liza Meyer, 15, of Bellaire had fond memories of her mother’s Croatian friends babysitting her.

Tony Zamarripa, a banking professional from Oak Forest, wore the Croatia jersey he bought during a tour of Dubrovnik, Split and Zagreb. “You gotta go with the underdog,” said Zamarripa, who supported the U.S., which didn’t make the cut, and then Mexico, which was defeated, before switching to Croatia.

Adam Rybak, 25, who works at a medical startup and lives in the Museum District, had traveled to Croatia with his girlfriend and wore a team cap he’d bought a few years ago with a slogan on it he didn’t notice until Sunday: “To the finals with fire in our hearts.”

The French team, known as Les Bleus, or The Blues, defeated Uruguay and then Belgium in a nail-biter to make the cut. France has qualified for 14 tournaments, beginning at the inaugural World Cup in 1930, but had won the title only once, in 1998.

The Croatian team, known as Vatreni, or The Blazers, beat Russia and upset England against all expectations to make it to the finale. The country, which has a population just under Harris County’s, has participated in the World Cup five times. Prior to independence, Croatians played for the Yugoslavia team, which appeared in eight World Cup tournaments.

Statistically speaking, Harris County has more French nationals than Croatian nationals. In the greater Houston area, stretching from The Woodlands to Sugar Land, there are 4,258 foreign-born residents from France and 294 from Croatia, according to the 2016 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census.